


Comfort Is found In Words And Actions

by CrazyCatMeow



Series: The Meteor Effect [27]
Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: Bedrock Impulse, Bee Kerails, Bird Grian, Creeper Doc, Dragon Wels, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, End Drake Xisuma, Fluff, Fox Etho, Gen, Grian Backstory - Freeform, Iskallium Iskall, Joe is helpful, Lore - Freeform, Mage Hypno, Merman Xb, Phantom Bdubs, Phoenix Tango, Robot Mumbo, Sheep Zedaph, Slime Jevin, Sphinx Cub, Trickster Evil Xisuma, Vex Scar, cattle centaur Beef, werewolf ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 12,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27679174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyCatMeow/pseuds/CrazyCatMeow
Summary: Joe is a fairly cryptic hermit but he will always be there for the others.(This can be used as a quick recap on what happened to the hermits)
Relationships: Family - Relationship
Series: The Meteor Effect [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1529078
Comments: 272
Kudos: 225





	1. Mumbo

Mumbo sits at the edge of his base and stares out at the horizon, his eyes have turned bright blue with little flecks of pink. Sighing, he leans against the cool grass of the base. Today has been a lot of busywork. He’d continued working on ruining his base, minor maintenance was done on many farms, and he went and talked to Grumbot and Jrum.

Overall the day had been pretty good but, he forgot something. Since he’s a robot sleeping is different, at night he tends to go into a sort of shut down, he’s fully aware of the outside world but he’s stuck in one spot. About once a week he will completely shut down so he can recharge and do minor internal repairs. 

“Howdy,” Joe says as he carefully lands on the top of Mumbo’s base, he jumps down and sits next to him, “I came here looking for a trade but you look like you need a friend right now.”

Mumbo sits up and slumps over, “I’m fine, it just a little bit annoying…”

“What’s bugging you?”

“This whole robot thing, it’s just been weird. And sometimes I can ignore it and just go on with my day but other times it’s right in my face,” Eyes darkening to a navy blue he tugs his suit jacket around himself, 

“That’s not all that’s bothering you,” Joe softly pushes, “It’s not healthy to bottle up your feelings.”

Mumbo leans into the hug and starts talking, “Sometimes I’ll try and eat something then I have to stop and it just hurts.”

Joe nods as Mumbo keeps talking.

“If someone has a bunch of farms going at the same time you know how Redstone stuff starts to lag? Yeah, I’ll lag and it’s not fun. It’s like I’m trying to walk through honey. It’s not fun, I can still think normally but I get stuck and sometimes get stuck in loops.”

“What kind of loops if you don’t mind me asking,” Joe asks, pushing his glasses up.

“I’ll repeat words and phrases. If it’s really bad I’ll get stuck in a repeating action.”

Sucking in a breath Joe winces, “I can’t imagine how annoying that would be.”

Mumbo shrugs, “It sucks but I just have to live with it.”

The sun dips below the horizon, “We should get inside,” Joe says as he ushers Mumbo indoors.

His eyes begin to dim slightly, Joe narrows his eyes in concern, “Are you ok?”

“It’s fine,” Mumbo slurs, his voice processor starting to shut down, “I can’t-t really sl-eep but I-I go in a power save mode at night.”

As Mumbo starts to stumble Joe helps him over to his bed, “Do you normally just shut down outside?”

Mumbo shakes his head no.

Joe rolls his eyes, “Be a little more careful, you don’t want to get swarmed by mobs.”

By this point, Mumbo had powered down and was no longer moving. Joe pulls out his book and reads out loud in Mumbo’s base for a few hours. From the softly shifting colors of his eyes, Mumbo is thoroughly enjoying the company and the story.


	2. Scar

Scar sits on the top of the Diamond throne, he gently kicks his legs as he looks over the area. As he kicks his legs softly he smiles. 

He has his domain laid out before him. Everything within his sight is his. He’s the mayor surrounded by his friends he shouldn’t feel so disconnected from them but he does. Barely coming up to their knees will do that. The Vex has been incredibly helpful with feeling at least somewhat normal. 

A door swinging open draws him from his thoughts, “Hey Joe.”

“Why howdy there Mr. Mayor,” Joe grins, “Something is bugging you, what’s wrong?”

“As observant as ever Mr. Hills,” Scar jokes before becoming serious, “I’m, I just feel like. Everything is too big.”

Sitting down on the floor Joe lets Scar talk.

“I never wanted to be so small, normally I’m a pretty tall person but now… can’t even get up a block without needing help. Well, yeah I’ve got my wings but that takes energy. “

“Do you want a hug?”

“Yeah,” As Scar gives Joe a hug the taller man gently hugs him back. 

“I’ll tell you something, I might be able to find a way to deal with the meteor. I can’t say much more than that yet but I’ve got something in mind.”

Scar gives a particularly Vex-like smile, “Whatever your idea is I’ll be happy to help.”

Narrowing his eyes Joe shakes his head, “Something else is up.”

“Ok, ok, as much as I love the Vex and having magic it’s a real pain to keep up with the others. Vex have this sort of hive mind pool and since they include me with the vex stuff on this world sometimes I’m left confused. Normally if a vex loses access to the hive mind they just can’t be summoned anymore and they stay and attend to the high Vex.”

Joe nods, “I remember hearing about this.

“I’ve mentioned it a few times,” Scar confirms before continuing, “Since I’m not technically a Vex I can’t access the Vex realm to drain excess magic.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not, two things happen with excess magic. One my wings will start growing, and two it’s harder to stay solid. I found a way to put my extra magic into crystals but is not really a good solution. So I try to use magic, where it’s a good thing. I made the shopping district green and terraform things,” Scar explains as he wiggles his wings.

“You act more Vex like don’t you?” Joe asks, “With the Diamonds?”

Scar frowns and he picks a gem off the pile, “I’m not supposed to eat diamonds, to me and Cub there still rocks and we should definitely not eat them.”

“So you chew on them,” Joe finishes.

Nodding he continues, “It’s the same with Vex magic, it tastes amazing but we can’t really eat it.”

“Your instincts want you to be more like a Vex but you can’t.”

“Exactly, Cub can pretend things are normal, I can’t escape from the world. I’m half a block tall, I can barely get up the stairs. If I want anything done fast I have to fly.”

Joe leans back against the diamonds, “Hope you know if you ever need help with anything, we’re here.”

Scar snickers softly, “Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you have a good day/night.


	3. Ren

Ren narrows his eyes, he needs to finish this lava lake but something’s nagging at him to go find the others. Brushing the dirt and dust of his pants and tail Ren sets out. As walks he frowns, it’s getting near the full moon but he doesn’t normally feel like this. Not at this time, he’s still got hours before the sun goes down.

He stumbles when he walks into a small pile of rubble.

“Sorry about that Ren,” Joe grins, before stumbling back when Ren stares blankly at him, “Ren, are you ok?”

“Hm, oh I’m fine it’s just near the full moon and I’m really tired.”

“Well then, come over here.”

Unexpectedly Ren pads over and plops down next to Joe.

“Is it possible that the moon makes you start acting wolf-like before it’s up?”

Huffing Ren answers, “Sometimes, near the full moon, I just don’t want to be away from everyone. It’s a lot worse in my wolf form but I’m like drawn towards you guys.”

Joe gently rubs Ren’s ears, “Anything bothering you?”

Ren’s tail wags for a moment before he answers, “It’s just I act like a dog sometimes and it’s really embarrassing.”

Nodding along Joe leans forwards fully invested with what Ren is saying.

“Like on the full moon, I get it. I'm not actually really in control. I'm basically a dog with human memories,” His ears fall, pinning down on his head, “But when I’m just me I hate it.”

Joe wraps Ren in a hug, “Hey it’s not your fault.”

“I know, but sometimes it’s just out of the blue. Like last week Tango threw a slimeball ball and I just ran after it and brought it back.”

Smiling softly Joe asks, “Did he throw it again?”

“Yeah, that part wasn’t too bad,” Ren barks out a laugh.

“It’s fun if you willingly do something or if it’s a direct interaction?” Joe asks, Ren nods his ears pricking up as he looks at the sun dipping below the horizon.

“Yeah, It can be fun,” Ren shrugs. 

“Is there anything else you do?” Joe asks.

“Oh yeah, If I’m really tired I act like a dog.”

Joe smirks, “What do you mean?”

“It's weird I’ll roll around in the dirt and uh, play with dog toys.”

“Is that where some of the dog park toys have gone?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

Grinning Joe looks at the moon that’s almost above the horizon, “Well, I think you might want to stay inside tonight.”

“Why, it’s nice out right now.”

“It’s going to storm,” Joe states matter-of-factly.

“Ok then,” Ren whistles as he starts taking his shoes off. A few minutes later a large brown wolf is laying on the ground. He pads up towards Joe, they mess around for a while before rain slowly starts pattering down.

Ren pads after Joe as he starts to head inside, once inside the winery Joe pulls out a few dog brushes and helps clean Ren’s fur. By a few hours later Ren is a lot more fluffy and is solidly asleep in front of the fire.


	4. Xisuma

Xisuma flick his tail and growls, his day hasn’t been going to plan. He had somehow managed to fall off his base in such a way that his spines got pulled in the wrong direction. It had hurt pretty bad but he just kept going with his day. Unfortunately it was the kind of day that nothing seems to go right. His horns need to be filed and his claws cut and shaped again.

He’s wound up in the end, for the first time in weeks he takes his helmet off for more than a few minutes. As he lays on the blankets he’d brought he frowns. Most of the time when he’s having a bad day like this he hangs out with Exy, but unfortunately he’s off with Hels Knight so he would be unavailable for the next few days.

So Xisuma resorts to the end. The cold thin air paired with tea and blankets always makes things a bit better. A slight vwop draws his attention to the teleportation obsidian platform.

Flicking his tail Xisuma watches as Joe walks over.

“So, how are you doing?” Joe asks as he leans against a nearby obsidian pillar.

“Uhh, what’s going on?” Xisuma asks as he sits up.

“Exy sent me a message asking if I could come and check on you,” Joe explains, “So, what’s bugging you?”

Xisuma sighs, “I can’t really walk correctly today. I’ve been overworked so I’ve been stuck on all fours.”

Joe winces in sympathy, “That sucks.” 

“Yep, and it’s not like I can just start walking around normal, it’ll take a few hours to get my balance back,” Xisuma yawns and shows his fangs off, “My tail is just going knock me over if I try anything right now.”

Joe sighs, “Well I’ll stay with you.”

“You really don’t need to, I’ll be fine in an hour or two.”

Giveing Xisuma a look that screams deal with it, Joe swiftly shuts any more protest down, “Talk to me, what’s your normal response with walking on all fours?”

“Normally it only happens when I’m rushing to get somewhere. Sometimes when I’m relaxed and not doing much.”

“So it’s a natural defense.”

“Well if you put it that way, yeah. When I’m rushing I’m normally stressed out and when it happens otherwise it’s more of a calm way of walking.”

“Oh that reminds me, your teeth are a bit tusk like,” Joe marvels, “I keep forgetting because of your helmet.”

Turning his head so his solid green eyes are fully focused up on Joe, Xisuma smiles as he lets him inspect the tusks.

“Something else is bugging you, I can see it in your eyes,” Joe presses as Xisuma stretches.

“I can’t get too close to people because of my spines,” Xisuma admits, “and sometimes it’s really hard, I just, I’m a little touch starved by this point.”

Joe responds to this by pulling Xisuma in and hugging him. The spines dig sharply into his arms but he ignores it and keeps hugging. Xisuma gasps and hugs Joe back. They stay like that for a while before Xisuma pulls back.


	5. Doc

Doc hisses at the floor of his base. One of his traps had gone off unexpectedly. It had just barely been reset and on top of that it didn’t even work right. Activating his Elytra he jumps into the air and heads towards the shopping district. 

Stumbling forwards he lands. Walking into his shop he slumps against the counter, as he collects the profits, a sun beam hits the shot window. The light casting patterns over the floors. Yawning he glares up at the sun. 

“Howdy,” Joe grins as he walks inside, “Now, what did the sun do?”

Turning away Doc pulls his lab coat around himself, “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

“No you're not,” Joe shakes his head, “come over here and sit down and talk to me for a moment.”

Knowing full well that Joe would follow after him if he leaves, Doc frowns, “Fine, it's just that I’ve really never gotten used to being part human. Before the meteor, I was pretty much used to being around a lot of players, then the meteor happened. And I’m back at square one. Now I feel like I have to watch my every step.”

Joe winces slightly as Doc continues, the creeper is talking but he’s avoiding something.

“I can’t do anything about it. I’ve been acting more like a creeper then I normally do,” Doc admits.

Joe leans forwards, “Do you mind explaining what you mean?”

“I hiss at people,” Doc explains, “It happens if I’m tired or stressed out a lot.”

Sighing Joe smiles softly as he listens.

“And uh, I’ have no sense of time. Creepers are nocturnal. So I’ll try to sleep during the day but since I’m also human I try to sleep during the night,” Doc stops talking for a moment before continuing, “It’s really annoying.”

“That’s why you sleep right when the sun goes up and down,” Joe snaps his fingers.

“Exactly,” Doc grins, before slumping down, this is all just so weird, and how do you know that?”

“I know most things happening around the server,” Nodding softly Joe gives Doc a gentle hug. The Creeper tensing up for a moment before relaxing and melting into the hug.

“One of the more annoying parts is when I get distracted from what I’m working on, Creepers don’t have the longest attention span and don’t really like to come back to things later.”

“Something else is bothering you, you keep dodging around something.”

“Fine, it’s my explosions. I can’t always control when it happens and it’s really annoying. It doesn’t have the same range as other creepers so it’s just a hazard for me to deal with.”

“What happens when you blow up?”

“I act even more like a creeper. I can only hiss. I don’t leave my house since I have food and I Uh, normally have some form of company that makes it bearable but sometimes I’m alone.”


	6. Python

Python huddles under the thick pile of blankets. It’s beginning to turn to winter so The area around his base has magma cubes scattered around for warmth. A campfire crackles happily as the snake like hermit coils into his blankets. 

He would have moved inside but unfortunately the inside hasn't really been fully weather proofed yet. It’s much warmer over by the campfire and Python can’t bring himself to move.

Soft footsteps against a normally deserted path, draw Python from his thoughts. 

“Howdy there,” Joe grins, “What are you doing laying outside?”

“It’s warmer outside,” Python murmurs yawning, “I haven’t finished weatherproofing.”

Foldly shaking his head Joe looks over, “How’s this I’ll get some of your house warmed up, then you come inside and we can talk.”

Python hisses in thought, “Ok, let’s do that.”

As Joe works on warming up Python’s base he slithers over and looks through the window. They idly chatter about the happenings on the hermitcraft server. Python has moved to a solitary world and isn’t looking to return yet. The hermits have always done amazing things but sometimes that kind of pressure is too much.

“Ok, your house is now warmed and will stay warm,” Joe explains, “So how are you doing?”

Coiling up on the couch Python shrugs, “I’m ok, I’ve just picked up a few annoying habits.” 

At Joe’s nod he continues, “You know how snakes do the brumation thing during the winter? I do it to, I guess, I think it was sorta happening when I first got transformed. I’m really tired and I don’t really eat that much.”

Joe nods, “That would explain why you were so tired for so long.”

“Yeah,” Python hisses softly, using his long body and an armrest.

“Being cold all the time must really suck,” Joe muses.

“Sometimes it does, it’s normally easy enough to fix though. Just sit near a fire or something else warm. The food part is a lot worse.”

“How so?”

“I’m like a constrictor. I wrap around what I try to hunt,” Python explains, the tip of his tail flicks softly, “After I eat I normally don’t need to eat again for a few days and when it gets cold I can go a few weeks. Because of that I don’t chew things that much.”

“That’s good to know,” Joe says slowly, “How are your ventral scales?”

“Still all scratched up from the mountain, I might have to shed before they fully heal.”

Joe leans towards Python, “How are you doing with getting around?”

“Much better than before, I’ve actually managed to climb up things.” 

“That’s good.”

“Yeah I can roll into different places really easily now, I can sometimes climb onto the roof.”

“That’s good,” Joe repeats.

“So, how are you?” Python asks, “We’ve talked about everyone else, but you.”

“I’m, doing ok, I can’t really do anything about The inevitability of the meteor so I make do by helping out where I can.”

Python smiles, “Joe you are so kind.”

“I’m just doing my part.”

“We’re all just trying to make do,” Python hisses, “Sometimes it's hard and you can’t always control what’s happening. I can’t do a lot of things but you learn and adapt to the changes.”


	7. Wels

Wels growls at his communicator, his wings and tail flare out and his scales puff up a bit. His clone had been hanging out with Exy. Apparently that was helping him be a nicer person. Even though Hels had been cloned from a draconic Wels, he’s human. 

Pushing the doors to his store open Wels wraps his wings around himself. As he gathers up his profits he slowly slumps in on himself. His stress and bad day shouldn’t be taken out on his clone.

All he’d done was threaten people and after that he disappeared for a few months. Unfortunately while Exy convinced him that being all angry at the world isn’t healthy, Exy is also a prankster. As such when Hels finally agreed to come and live above ground he’s been a bit of a nuisance.

“Wels? Are you ok?” Joe asks, “You don’t look very happy.”

“Hm, oh, yeah I’m fine, I’m just thinking,” Wels explains as he sits down on the grass.

“What’s up?”

“It’s nothing really, Hels just realized since I’m half dragon I’m really easy to mess with. He’s gotten me with the laser pointer at least three times in the last week,” As he talks his tail angrily thumps against the ground.”

“Hey, it’s ok,” Joe gently explains as he sits down next to him.

As Wels begins to rant, smoke begins to drift from his mouth, “My wings are impossible, I can’t function very well with them and they keep getting in the way. I’ve gotten stuck so many times because they’ve flared out.”

Joe winces as Wels continues.

“Not to mention my tail, decorating is impossible. I keep knocking my things off tables and shelves,” The aforementioned limb wags softly, “I’ve never been clumsy, but now I’m always breaking things.”

Wincing, Joe pats his shoulder, “Give it more time.”

“I know, I know. I’ve started hoarding things. I’m like attracted to gold…”

“That’s not not all is it?”

“No, I try to hoard music stuff. I’ve got so much of it now. I got Sacr to help me make crystals that can hold songs in them. I’ve got one for each of you.”

Joe smiles, “You hoard us hermits don’t you?”

“Yeah, I just want to protect you guys. I don’t like seeing you hurt,” As he says this his mouth glows slightly.

“Wels, that’s so sweet,” Joe smiles.

Wels’ wings surround himself as he ducks away from all the praise, “It’s nothing, I can’t really control it.”

Joe smiles softly.

“I can’t stand my fire,” Wels blurts out, “It’s not unbearably warm but it gets really hot really fast from outside stuff.”

“Is that why you’ll eat ice and jump in water?”

“Yeah, it gets really annoying, I can barely stand it sometimes,” By this point Wels has burnt himself out of anger and is tiredly slumped over.

“Do you want a hug?” Joe asks.

Wels nods and leans into the embrace.


	8. Jevin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter involves a newish concept, Jevin can split like a slime. This was mentioned in Side Effects as well.

Jevin softly bounces on his heels as he tries to figure out just where the rest of him has gone. He can tell that there was a teen Jevin that had formed and another eight year old. 

They look like they're together, but he can’t figure out just where they are. Slight panic leaks through the bond as he desperately looks for the others. 

It’s a rare occurrence that Jevin splits and even rarer that they unwillingly separate. This split has happened from an unfortunate PVP session with False. Normal Jevin had panicked at a stray creeper and split into two. Which False had accidently hit one causing two mini Jevin’s to appear. Somehow in the resulting chaos one of the Mini Jevin’s fell into a nether portal, and in his blind panic had ended up in the shopping district. 

Since all three of the Jevin’s are in a blind panic they can’t find each other. The separated Jevin pulls on his hoodie strings as he looks for someone, anyone. Even the Wels clone; Hels or something, would be better than this.

Quivering slightly, Jevin bounces off of something that immediately puts the box he’s holding down, “Jevin, are you ok?”

“I uh, I-I can’t find them,” Jevin stutters as his form slips a little.

Joe sits on the ground and lets the mini Jevin hug him, “Are you looking for the rest of yourself?”

Jevin nods, his lisp more pronounced in his panic, “We got separated, I can’t find them.”

“Ok, let's wait here for a minute,” Joe suggests, “That way you can calm down a bit and then we can go looking.”

Giggling softly the mini Jevin looks up, “It’ll be an adventure.”

“It sure will be,” Joe grins as he stands up, “Where to first?”

“Uh, we split at Falses base so we can check there first,” Jevin mumbles as he fiddles with his hoodie some more.

“Good thinking buddy,” Joe says as he takes the Mini Jevin’s hand and they walk towards the nether portal.

Kicking at the ground Jevin glares, “It’s all so annoying.”

Joe looks down at the mini jevin and carefully sits down on the side of the ice lined nether tunnel, “What’s up?”

“It’s the splitting in general, it’s fun when I want it, I can do more than one thing at once but when it’s unexpected it just gets in the way.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault it’s like this.”

“I hate it,” Jevin stomps.

Mildly taking a back Joe hugs the mini Jevin, “Ok talk to me.”

“Whenever I’m like this I’m still me, I’m just short and I act like a child. I still know how to do things but sometimes I just can’t help but act like a kid.”

Gently nodding Joe asks a simple question, “Do you want advice from me or do you just want me to listen?”

Freezing for a minute, Jevin sits down, “Listen for now.”

Joe nods.

“I can be doing what I’m supposed to be doing when I’m like this and then I’ll get distracted and run off. Then it takes even longer than it normally would. When we're like this it’s like we’re all over the place.”

“I have a question, do you feel like we treat you like a kid?”

“Sometimes,” Jevin mumbles, “It’s normally when we act like kids that you guys treat us like kids. That’s fair, I guess,” As his rant continues he starts stuttering as he finishes he leans against Joe as they continue walking. 

They spend a few hours wandering the server looking for the other Jevin’s, by the time they are found the sun is setting. The small tower that served as a starter base, is once again used as a house. After the Jevin’s fuse back into the normal Jevin he turns to Joe and thanks him for helping him find himself.


	9. Iskall

Iskall leans against the base of the mega tree. The leaves of the tree swaying softly if the wind. Everything with the meteor has left Iskall feeling a bit weird. The transformation happened months ago but it still catches Iskall off guard.

Since they look completely normal sometimes it is easy to forget about the Iskalium. They can just be working on something and windup stuck on a block. It’s a rare occurrence that any of Iskall’s ‘powers’ flare up and cause any problems. 

Sighing they stand up to head inside before it gets dark.

A thud from inside draws their attention, “Hello?”

“Oh Howdy, Iskall. Don’t mind me,” Joe rambles as he walks out from the nether portal room. As he spots Iskall he stops, “Are you ok, you look really tired.”

“I’m fine, I've just been a little more iskallium like than normal.”

“How so?

“It’s nothing really, I’ve just been really stressed out today.”

At Joe’s nod Iskall keeps talking.

“When I get overly stressed I’ll start getting sticky and the iskallium softens,” As they explain Iskall checks to make sure one of the off shooting doors was still closed tightly, “I’ve gotten stuck to my tools and the side of a building today and I’ve never really done that before.”

Moving his arm away from the wall Joe sits Iskall down, “Just talk to me.”

Iskall nods, “I rarely ever glow. It’s kinda random when I don’t want it to happen. I can control it happening.”

“Do you act like a living night light?”

“Sometimes, it’s pretty useful. It just went crazy the other day. It was really bright and kind of flashy.”

Joe nods as he listens, “You mentioned melting?”

“Yeah, it’s really annoying. I can’t stand melting. I get all globy and it’s hard to keep a solid form.”

As he explains Joe leans forward listening.

“Vee and Echo think it’s absolutely hilarious and melt as well if they see it.”

“How are they doing?”

“They’re fine. It’s really weird though. I never would have expected they would even show up. It’s so confusing. They’re slimes I don’t know how to deal with them. I’ve never been good with kids or anything. Apparently I’m doing something right but they’re baby slimes and they aren’t going to grow unless they fuse with another slime.”

Standing up Joe pats his arm, “You are doing fine and they love you.”


	10. Keralis

Keralis buzzes angrily, he had just barely finished taking the scaffolding down and one’s been left at the top of the skyscraper. Normally this sort of thing wouldn’t be that much of a problem, but not being able to use an Elytra is really annoying. Shaking the negative thoughts aside Keralis looks down at his communicator and jumps up. 

He has to meet with Joe to trade in a few minutes. Jumping up he runs over to the docks where he’s meeting him.

“Sorry I’m late,” Keralis buzzes.

“You’re fine, I only just got here myself,” Joe grins as he pulls a shulker box full of gray concrete out.

“Thank you. Here’s your side of the deal,” Keralis hums as he hands Joe a stack of name tags. As Joe prepares to head off Keralis calls out, “Can you do me a favor? On the top of the reddish gray building I left a scaffolding block. I can’t really fly up there.”

Joe’s expression softens, “Of course, I’ll go get that for you.”

“Thanks,” Keralis sighs.

As Joe comes back he clumsily lands, “Ok, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“I’m just not able to be as efficient as I would like. Last season was good practice I guess, with the no flight village. It’s just so annoying having to walk everywhere. Ice boats are ok but I miss flying. I feel like I’m supposed to be able to fly,” His antenna bob down a bit as he talks, “Just my wings don’t work and I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do with them. It’s getting a bit colder and they won’t stop fluttering.”

“What do you mean?” Joe asks as his looks at the thin membrane.

“Right now it’s ok since I live in a warmer area but if I go somewhere colder they won’t stop moving. It’s like there trying to do something.”

“Well, in the winter bees try to keep the hive warm by all flapping their wings. It could be your way of trying to keep yourself warm,” Joe suggests as Keralis stretches his wings out.

“That’s probably it,” Keralis hums, “Something else that’s pretty annoying is flowers. I’m drawn to them. I’ve wasted days just looking at them. They smell so good sometimes, I’ve tried to eat some.”

“Oh, that’s not good,” Joe winces slightly.

“Eh, I’ve figured out which ones are edible, so I don’t risk getting hurt.”

“That’s good,” Joe murmurs.

“The time the meteor… Avar. When he turned everyone into the full Version of whatever he turned us into, that really made me think. I’m a bee, and just the sheer amount of help I needed was insane. I couldn’t fly, I was too small to just walk everywhere and I would get stuck from having too much pollen. It was a very weird experience, but I can still do everything I want to. It might take longer but I can still do things.”

Nodding along with the rant Joe listens intently.

Rubbing at his face Keralis winces, “I still haven’t adjusted to my eyes.”

“You can see a whole new plane of existence. I wouldn’t expect that to fade for a while. Can you describe what you can see for me?”

Taking a breath Keralis begins to speak, “It’s difficult to explain, the light bounces off of things the water gitters when the light hits it. Glass has a whole dimension added to it. The shipping containers feel more alive, the city has energy. Everything is more colorful,” As his beautiful description drips down Keralis rubs his large eyes, “The eye sight is wonderful but it’s got its problems. I get headaches and it’s hard to focus on things.”

Joe nods, “The tides of life pulling and pushing in each direction. Give too much and you will be swept away.”

Buzzing indignantly Keralis protests, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You can take it a Number of ways but in this case, listen to what you need. Your body knows what you need to remain in balance.”


	11. Tango

Tango fluffs his wings up before walking over to the color shop, he pulls the shulkers out and places them on the ground. As he restocks he scrunches into himself.

Unfortunately, it’s not always going to be warm outside, the temperatures have started to drop. For most hermits, this isn’t much of a problem just adding jackets to their normal clothes. Tango has a slightly worse problem. 

Since his thermoregulation relies heavily on outside sources of warmth he’s been cold a lot recently. Wrapping his tail closer to himself, Tango completes the restocking. The server’s weather can be spontaneous and random at times but for the most part, it’s the same across the board. 

If it’s raining somewhere it’s raining all across the server. If it’s raining in a place that allows for snow it will snow, if it’s cold enough. Seasons have the normal cycle and the temperatures at least vaguely follow it. Warmer biomes will always be a bit warmer than the others and ice biomes will always be cold.

A voice startled him from his thoughts, “Tango? You ok?”

The Phoenix looks up, “Oh uh, yeah I’m fine, it's just kinda cold.”

Joe plops down next to Tango, “Your wings being out makes the rest of you cold.”

“Yeah, I can’t really conserve heat, and I can only set my hair on fire sometimes.”

“Right, that’s a thing you do,” Joe nods, “Have you attempted to hang out in the sun?”

Tango puffs a bit, “Yeah, it doesn’t help much. It’s like light hoodie season and I’m over here freezing my butt off.”

Joe winces, “You might be able to make a greenhouse room somewhere.”

“I’ve been working on one with Impulse but I still have to go out and do stuff.”

“I get it,” Joe murmurs.

Tango wraps his wings around himself, “Everything’s been so hectic. I can’t take a break from anything or something’s going to go wrong.”

Joe nods along as he softly ushers Tango into the nether.

“If I’m not paying attention my wings flair out and cause problems. I’ve almost broken a bunch of Redstone stuff by smacking them.”

“That can’t feel good.”

“It doesn’t, then they hurt for a few days. My tail causes more problems, I keep almost setting things on fire. I can’t always tell if it’s on fire so that’s a hazard,” The offending limb flicks around before settling down.

As Tango continues Joe leans against the wall.

“Then there’s the gold thing, and yeah we have golden carrots but being able to just eat a nugget that’s really weird. And all the birds instincts. I don’t like not being able to sleep when I’m not in some sort of nest. I attempt to preen Grian’s feathers. It’s just so annoying.”

Joe nods softly, “Sometimes we just need to think and listen.”

Taking a deep breath he continues, “I’ve got that cartoon thing that I do. Where I can just magically pull things out of thin air. Whenever that happens it’s like I’m not in control anymore. I can’t control if or when any of the cartoon stuff happens, it does happen more often when I’m at my base. That’s probably linked to the fact that’s completely cartooned.”

As Tango’s rambling turns less venting and more talking rapidly about cartoons, Joe grins. It’s good to distract people, give them some hope.


	12. Zedaph

Bleating Zedaph grins, his wool has been washed and is all floofy. Clicking softly against the ground Zedaph looks out at the Toon Towers. The area around his base has been changed to have more grass. A prank from Tango that didn’t look too bad so it stayed.

Stumbling as something smacks against the wall, Zedaph turns invisible. Joe lands haphazardly a bit dazed from the sudden ender Pearl, “I didn't mean to do that. Sorry, Zed.”

“You’re fine, what brings you over here?”

“I was making a deal with TFC, I meant to use rockets but I used ender pearls.”

“How?” Zedaph bleats.

“I have no clue,” Joe laughs, “How are you doing?”

Zedaph locks eyes with him before answering, “I’ve been better.”

“What’s wrong?” Joe asks as he herds Zedaph back inside.

“It’s just I can’t stay away from people. I’m like, drawn towards you guys. I just feel so lost when I’m separated for too long.” 

Joe pulls the sheep into a hug, “Hey, you have everyone with you on this and if you need, nobody is going to care if you show up at their house. 

“Thanks, man, I want to know what that hunk of space rock wants.”

Sighing Joe sits down, “From what I can tell he’s hurting very bad inside. Something happened to him and now he wants us to feel the same kind of pain he did.”

“Haven’t we? I mean what could he have been turned into that's worse than all of this.”

“I think it’s more about how we are treating each other, we still help each other, we find ways around what’s happening and I don’t think he had this kind of support.”

“Oh, he’s trying to break us,” Zedaph gasps, “He wants us to fight each other.”

Joe nods, “That might be why the transformations have such a huge range, Beef might envy someone like Exy for having such a relatively easy transformation. While someone like Impulse might feel guilty about having a less extreme transformation.”

Zedaph’s face falls as he picks at his wool, “I don’t want to lose anyone because of him.”

“Neither do I. The hermits are my family. I couldn’t bear it if I lost you.”

“Aww, thanks. Ok, happier topic time,” Zedaph grins nervously.

Joe smiles, “How much work does your wool require?”

Zedaph groans, “Way too much. If it gets wet it needs to be brushed out and washed. My tail’s the biggest problem. I don’t know how but it picks up twice the amount of dirt.”

At Zedaph’s fake annoyed huff Joe laughs.

“I don’t know how but it’s like a dust magnet.”

As the conversation continues Joe decides to bring some up, “So, you're still having your ghost problem?”

“Yeah, it’s not too bad, Phasing through walls is a good way to scare people and invisibility is nice when trying to corral mobs,” He grins.

Joe smiles softly before giving Zedaph a high five.


	13. Grian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Sam Gladiator everything that is mentioned is very vague  
> vague mention of abuse/ptsd

Grian squawks as he carefully lands on the ground outside his mansion. The hole had been almost completely dug on each side. It may have been a mistake to even make the holes but everything’s looking really good.

As he flutters over to a few shulkers he prepares a box of gravel for Joe. He needed some and had asked if anyone was willing to trade. Grian has a lot that he’s not using so he gives it to him.

Fluffing his feathers Grian hops towards the front doors of his base. Settling on the steps he spreads out his wings. The sun warms his feathers, chirping softly Grian smiles.

“Howdy Mr. Grian,” Joe Hills grins as he sits next to the bird.

“Hey Joe,” Grian waves, “Here’s the gravel.”

“Why thank you,” As Joe turns to walk away he spots Grian frown slightly, “Oh, are you ok?”

“I’m fine I just… I keep plucking at my feathers. I know I’m not supposed to do it but it just keeps happening.”

Joe hums for a moment before looking at Grian’s wings, “Have you considered getting some sort of anxiety toy?”

Squinting at the other hermit Grian eloquently asks, “What?”

“Like… how to explain this. Oh, you know like Rubix cubes. Anything you can hold and fidget with. You might like the bubble wrap kind of thing.”

“Oh, yeah that might actually help.”

“Something else is bugging you, what’s up.”

“You know how the watchers saved me from permadeath?”

“Yes,” Joe says slowly. He sits down next to the bird and listens.

“Well, that’s not the worst thing that I’ve been through. I don’t like talking about it.”

“That’s completely understandable.”

Grian takes a deep breath, “I grew up on one of the city worlds. For high school, I moved to a different world. When I got there it was fine then I met Sam. He was horrible, all through high school he dragged me through his sick game,” Grian shudders and wraps his arms around himself, “He dragged me and Taurtis to this fantasy world,” Grian pauses and stops moving for a moment, “After that, I was able to escape. I made some different friends and made the Wynncraft server. Then I made it to Evo.” 

“This Sam, he’s the reason you have anxiety?” Joe asks softly as he hugs Grian.

“Yeah, when the watchers saved me they found out what he had done and now he’s in jail, that helped a lot.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through any of that.”

Grian gives a soft sad smile, “Thanks.”

They sit in silence watching the sun slowly set over the horizon. Grian breaks the silence, “It’s really weird to have bird feet.”

“How so?”

“I can grab things,” Grian hops to his feet and shows Joe what he means, “Other than that it sucks, I can’t run at all, and I can’t walk very far.”

“How far can you make it?”

“Comfortably, about the width of the stairs,” Grian motions to the mega staircase.

“That’s why you do the hop flutter thing?”

“Mmhm, exactly. I’ve been practicing mimicking people.”

Joe laughs, “How have your prank attempts gone?”

“Horribly, I can't sneak up on people, my wings make too much noise,” He laments dramatically draping himself across the stairs, “Thanks for talking with me Joe, you’ve helped me a lot.”


	14. Beef

Beef huffs softly as he walks. Hooves clopping against the sandstone roads of the shopping district. Carefully he starts dismantling the record shop. When he accidentally drops a shulker he stumbles back and falls. He sits on the ground for a moment before laying his front legs down. 

Frowning he stops working and just sits on the ground. His lama patterned blanket is wrapped around his back leg. Overcome by a sense of pure, wrong he takes his saddlebag off, throwing it away. It lands a few blocks away with a thump.

“Beef?” A voice gently calls, “Are you ok?”

Beef shakes his head as Joe walks up to him, “I’m ok, I just can’t reach the roof.”

Joe nods softly and clearly sits down near Beef, “That’s not all is it?”

“No, I just can’t stand this sometimes. The entire lower half of my body has been changed. I have to do everything differently.”

Gently taking his hand Joe shakes his head, “Can you explain a bit more?”

Nodding Beef starts talking, “You know how Zedaph herds, I sorta do it as well. It’s nowhere near as bad as Zed’s but I get really lonely.”

Joe winces slightly.

“It’s not that bad, I’ve really gotten used to everything.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“Doc does, he figured it out when I started following him around. Etho might know.”

“Thank you for telling me.”

Beef nods, “I don’t know how I feel about this, I can barely walk when the ground isn’t flat. Keralis broke our ‘argument’, I’m really grateful for all the horse blankets and everything but It makes me think about just how bad everything is.”

Nodding as Beef continues, Joe leans forwards.

“I'm a freaking cow, I can’t stand it sometimes. It just feels so bad sometimes. Walking’s just weird having to move two legs at once...”

“You don't like people touching your back, do you?”

“I hate it, sometimes. It's ok if I know what someone is doing but I don't like getting startled,” Beef looks over, “Joe, I almost kicked Bdubs.”

Joe winces and looks up at him, “Are you ok?”

“I almost kicked him, that could have really hurt him.”

“But you didn't, you stopped before he got hurt. Even if he did get hurt, he wouldn't hold it against you.”

“I know,” By this point, Beef has relaxed enough for Joe to help get his hoove untangled. Thankfully this goes without any problems. As he stands he rubs his back against the rock wall.

“Are you ok?” Joe asks, a bit concerned. 

“It’s fine, I just rub up against stuff a lot. As long as I don't try to do it with my horns it's fine,” as he explains as he flicks his ear; after the incident where the meteor turned them fully into animals, he had gotten an ear tag. Just in case something happens again. The tag itself is a light blue with a small silver plate with the server info on it. 

Joe nods as he picks Beefs saddle bag up, handing it to him, “Do you want any help?”

Beef nods and the pair start taking the building down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think :)


	15. Cub

Cub grumbles to himself. His Redstone hadn’t been working quite right. His ears pin back against his head as he glares at the Target themed mini-game that was not cooperating.

The meteor’s been getting more active recently and is probably going to start affecting someone soon. Which is probably a contributing factor to his stress. A thump from behind startles Cub causing his tail to puff up.

“Oh, sorry about that I didn’t mean to startle you,” Joe drawls, ”Are you ok, you seem a bit frazzled.”

“It’s nothing, I’m fine,” Cub grumbles.

“Nope, not with that answer, come over here,” As Joe fixes his gaze on Cub his ears pin back as he walks over.

“Uh, what do you want to know?” Cub asks nervously.

“Since you’re avoiding something, we’ll talk about that later. So, what’s up with the Vex magic?”

Cub smiles softly at his friend's persistence, “The Vex side of things is fine. The same contract as always, we give them a prank every once in a while and they give us magic.”

“And what about the side effects?” Joe laughs poking at his shoulder.

“That is somewhat a problem,” Cub admits, “Players aren't supposed to eat diamonds. Scar can get by with chipping little bits off a Diamond or vex magic. I can’t really do that. I sorta just have to suck on diamonds to get the magic I need.”

“Ohh, that actually explains a lot,” Joe grins.

“Yeah, it’s kinda funny sometimes, I’ve seen Scar try to eat a totem of undying once.”

They both smile at each other, Joe pats his back slightly as Cub winces, “What else?”

“The Sphinx instincts, it’s so weird. I keep wanting to ask riddles and puzzles. It’s just unnerving… and Isometimesactlikeacat.”

“Come again?”

“I sometimes act like a cat, most of the time it’s harmless. Falling asleep in the sun, chasing things. Heck, even the laser pointer is fine… don’t tell Exy!” Cub smiles at Joe, “Other times it’s more annoying. I knock things over, can’t sleep half the time, and just make messes. Joe, I managed to unravel a banner the other day. I don’t even have claws,” Cub brings his hands up showing the flattened end and filed down nails.

They continue chatting for a while when Joe turns so he’s facing Cub, “Ok, can you tell me what’s bugging you?”

After a moment Cub starts talking, “It's the lion form. Unlike the meteor, the Vex aren't good at giving instincts. So instead of knowing how to do things, I'm stuck having to learn behaviors.”

Joe nods, “So it’s not like the others figuring things out right away. You actually have to learn.”

“Yeah, Xisuma had to teach me how to walk. It wasn't fun, I still mix up my paw placement.”

“I thought you didn't shift forms?”

“I don't willingly, sometimes I get forced into the lion form. When the meteor is active the Vex has to concentrate more energy on controlling the meteor. So sometimes I get stuck in the lion form.”

“It's also technically a cub right?” Joe asks.

“Yeah,” Cub trails off, “nine months, it's so annoying. The Vex did manage to give one instinct. When I’m like that I want to play and be near the others..”

“But the others are all trying to help whoever's transforming.”

“Exactly, so for the day or so I just kinda sleep.”

“Does Xisuma know?”

“Yeah, Scar does as well,” Cub sighs, “They try to stop by and help, but I can't really do anything with either of them. Scar’s way too small, and Xisuma’s got the spines.”

Joe hums for a moment, “You could always ask Ren or come over to the dog park.”

Cub smiles softly at the offer, as Joe stands up he hands a small bag to Cub saying, “Let me know if you can solve that I've been trying for way too long.

Looking at the contents of the bag Cub smiles softly to himself. A small metal puzzle and an odd-looking Circular Rubik's cube.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think :)


	16. Impulse

Impulse carefully works on expanding his base. Thankfully he hasn't fallen in the water as he would have to swim all the way back to the shoreline to be able to take off. Since he’s made partially of bedrock he’s heavier. It takes more effort to take off with the rockets; thankfully Tango gives him extra every so often.

As he places blocks on the edge of the expansion he slips. Falling into the water as he struggles, a hand grabs his wrist and pulls him safely back.

“Impulse, are you ok? You seem kinda out of it?” Joe asks as he sits the other man down. He hands him a blanket to help dry him off.

“It’s nothing, it’s just most of the hermits have had horrible transformations and I got… being a rock. I feel so bad for everyone and it feels wrong that nothing has happened to me.”

Joe huffs slightly, “It’s not nothing.”

“But it is, Tango has wings, Zedaph’s half sheep and I’m over here, I can’t pull myself out of the water.” 

Joe looks straight into his void-like eyes, “That’s it.”

“What?”

“You can’t swim too well, you’ve still been affected and you can have problems.”

Impulse makes an oh shape with his mouth, “Thanks for helping me back up, if you hadn’t shown up I would’ve had to swim all the way back to shore. Then jump off one of Tango’s fake bushes. Have you seen him cartoon logic the bushes into working like actual bushes?”

Joe laughs,” I’m happy to help. If you don’t mind me asking, do the bedrock patches extend into your skin?”

“Yeah, it’s solid rock for a few inches. It’s somehow really flexible but still impenetrable.”

“Natural armor?” Joe smiles.

“Yeah, and since it’s rock I don’t eat as much, it might be more of a really slow metabolism than anything,” He muses, “I really only need to eat once a day.”

“That’s interesting, is that connected to the void?”

“We think it’s because things don’t really grow near bedrock, so less food.”

Joe nods understanding.

“It’s the same with sleep actually, we just thought it was because of the transformation but I sleep for about twelve hours.”

Raising an eyebrow Joe shakes his head, “What is it with the meteor that makes him feel the need to mess up people’s sleep.”

This makes Impulse snicker, “That does seem to be a trend.”

“You sleep more because being the barrier in between worlds doesn’t have anything happening?”

“Nothing happens to bedrock,” Impulse shrugs, “The void is really interesting to look at, just calmly extending out into nothing.”

As Impulse talks, Joe listens, nodding along and imagining what he feels like.

“I fell asleep in the end once, I almost gave Zedaph and Tango a heart attack.”

Joe smiles, “That sounds like them.”

Impulse smiles back at him, his void-like eyes glittering softly.


	17. Bdubs

Bdubs yawns, the HEP meeting had gone on a bit longer than expected and he’s losing energy fast. Blinking a few times he shakes his head and forces himself to pay attention. They're almost to the end of the meeting.

Stifling another yawn Bdubs looks up at Scar. As he’s looking up something warm is draped around his shoulder. Slightly startled Bdubs makes a shrieking noise in the back of his throat. The now identified blanket is drawn close to his body as he lays his head down on the table. The others look over for a moment before continuing, just a little bit quieter than before.

It’s been agreed on that if Bdubs is falling asleep during a meeting someone will take notes for him. 

As he wakes up Bdubs takes a moment to orient himself. He’s been moved from the HEP base into the town hall. It’s a nice gesture. His tail thumps against the bed softly as he stands up. Feeling his wings rub against his side he looks outside, it’s dark.

“Howdy,” Joe grins as he sits down on the bed, he pulls Bdubs down next to him, “What’s bugging you?”

Bdubs wraps his arms around himself, “It’s just I always fall asleep when it’s inconvenient for someone else.”

“That’s not true,” Joe protests, “You were awake for most of that meeting, Cub told me that they went over. It’s not your fault.”

Bdubs puffs out a breath, “I guess, it gets so lonely during the night. Doc and Etho are awake sometimes, so is Jev, but it’s just the little things. There are no chat shenanigans and I don’t have the option to talk with anyone.”

“I get it,” Joe sighs.

Bdubs tail flicks slightly as he looks up, “I can tell when someone has slept.”

“I’m guessing you don’t react well?”

“It’s complicated, it’s like I try to push them into bed. I can’t stand it, and the longer they haven’t slept the more I can’t bear being near them.”

“Phantom rules?” Joe asks and at his nod, he continues, “Tell the others to sleep, if you tell them that it makes you uncomfortable they’ll stop.”

“I know they will, but… I don’t want to boss them around.”

“They won’t think that.”

Bdubs shrugs, “With the mini-game war coming up I don’t know how I’m supposed to do this. I can’t keep up.”

“That's ok, after what he did to you… Baby steps, you don’t need to throw yourself headfirst into everything.”

Smiling softly Bdubs nods, “It’s such a weird transformation, The tail I get, it’s useful at times. Same with my eyes, I can see in the dark. The fangs are, ok, they really just make me stutter a bit. What I don’t understand is why give me wings at night.”

Joe nods interested in what Bdubs is rambling on about.

“I know I can transform fully into a phantom but it’s just confusing. I still haven’t figured out how I’m supposed to fly in the full phantom form. I can kinda glide but it doesn’t last long.”

“Have you tried the Elytra forty degrees trick?”

“Yeah, that with some wing flapping works the best if I’m trying.”

“Do you want to try to fly?” Joe asks grinning.

Bdubs nods and carefully stands up before fully transforming into a; slightly reminiscent of a stingray, Phantom.


	18. Hypno

Frowning slightly Hypno walks over to the large window in his base. Over the last few months, he’s spent a few hours each day learning and practicing magic. 

Unfortunately, there’s only so much the pseudodragon could do when teaching him how to control his magic.

“Hypno?” A voice calls, “are you over here?”

Looking up Hypno spots Joe rounding the corner with Max curled around his neck, “Yeah, uh, what’s going on.”

“I will be completely honest, I’m not sure,” Joe shrugs, “He showed up at my base and dragged me over here.”

Hypno raises an eyebrow, “Max, what?”

“You need to talk to someone, Joe has been doing a good job with the others,” Max flicks his tail into Joe’s face.

Blinking at the dragon Hypno relents, “Ok, Joe, Max wants us to talk.”

Joe immediately agrees, “So what’s on your mind?”

“It’s my magic I guess. I can’t always control it,” Hypno sighs, “Sometimes it’ll just react to nothing.”

“That’s probably not good.”

Hypno shakes his head, “I don’t have any spells that are overly destructive but I keep using the grease spell.”

Wincing in sympathy Joe grimaces, he had been there when Hypno had first used that spell and it didn’t end particularly well.

“Yeah,” Hypno sighs, “It’s not fun.”

“Doesn’t sound fun,” Joe shakes his head.

Max flaps his way off of Joe’s shoulders and over to a bookcase. He chitters softly as he curls up to watch.

“Sometimes I hate using my magic, it’s helping Avar get his magic back faster and the hermits get affected because of that.”

“So, why use your magic?” Joe calmly asks.

“My magic replenishes itself and when I have too much it makes me… I don’t know, a little sick, kinda out of it.”

Joe nods, “That makes sense.”

“But it shouldn’t. By using magic I’m hurting you.”

“By not using magic you’re hurting yourself,” Joe explains as he hugs Hypno. 

Hypno lowers his head, “I don’t know what to do.”

“You could ask Scar if he has any extra crystals, and no one blames you for having magic.”

“Thanks, Joe,” Hypno smiles.

“It’s no problem,” Joe softly smiles.

A small clatter from the shelf draws both of their attention. Max flutters off the shelf and drapes around Hypnos neck.

Hypno gently pets the small dragon, “When I use magic my eyes glow, and the tattoos show up.“

“Do they mean anything?” Joe asks softly.

Max makes a quiet chuffing noise and flicks his tail into Hypno’s face, “They symbolize things from the meteor’s life,” Hypno uses a bit of magic to make them show up, “The eye is Aver’s eye, The Vex mask is because ‘the vex betrayed’ him, the gear is for one of his friends who was lost, the staff is for Max’s old summoner, and the helmet is the reason Avar went to the Vex in the first place.”

Joe is stunned, “That’s interesting.” 

“Yeah, he’s had quite a lot of problems, he’s just a very broken man, he’s done horrible things, but he’s still hurting.”

Shaking his head slightly Joe frowns.


	19. Evil Xisuma

Exy looks over the lava lake and frowns. The normally welcoming heat of the nether had turned against him. The warm air rises and that unfortunately makes him float up to the roof more often than not. Currently he’s grounded himself and is lost in his thoughts.

Thankfully the others have placed ropes all over the nether so he never gets stuck. It's kind of them to do all this when just two worlds ago he was threatening to kill them. It’s almost strange how they fully accepted him regardless of what he had done.

A quiet rusle from behind draws his attention, “Howdy there, Exy what brings you to this lake?”

Shrugging Exy looks over, “I'm just thinking.” 

“Do you mind sharing with me?” Joe calmly asks as he sits next to the trickster.

“I've tried to do horrible things to you guys, and you didn't even hesitate to take me in. Why?”

Joe sighs, “Well, you’ve never done anything with lasting consequences and you helped us save Xisuma. Even though he left you in the void.”

“He’s the only family I have left, I couldn't leave him.”

“And you are our family, you're a good person,” Joe explains pulling him in and giving him a hug.

“I've always been the ‘evil twin’ sorta overlooked, standing in his shadow. My friends becoming his friends and leaving me alone,” Exy nearly sobs.

“Hey, we won't leave you if that's what you're worried about,” Joe murmurs as he makes sure Exy wont float off, “Your you're own person you shouldn’t have to live in your brothers shadow.”

“Thanks,” Exy reluctantly grumbles, slightly embarrassed that he needs an anchor.

“It’s nothing,” Joe smiles.

Exy looks up at Joe, “This whole thing is kinda annoying.”

Joe motions for him to continue.

“If I’m not concentrating, I'll just float off into the void,” he shudders softly before continuing, “I always have to be with someone else or go as fast as possible. It’s kinda useful for building but not much else.”

“Floating would seem fun at first glance but really just makes more challenges?” Joe asks.

“Yeah, the teleportation sorta like that as well,” Exy huffs, “Oh no, I can’t control where I land. So, the only thing to do is rapid fire teleporting. That won’t end well.”

Joe nods, wincing in sympathy. He’s had quite a few unfortunate experiences with ender pearls.

“It’s ok, when I have time, then I can actually plan where I’ll land.”

Smiling softly Joe nods for Exy to continue.

“Controlling the weather isn’t too bad, I mean you will all know what I’m feeling but sometimes that’s ok. You guys always show up and ask me how I’m doing,” Looking down he whispers, “It helps me a lot.”

“I’m glad that helps you, if you ever need anything you can come to me.”

“Thank you, Joe you’re amazing.”

“Aw, why thank you,” Joe grins.

Exy laughs, “With my transformation it’s like the meteor couldn’t resist doing something physical. What was the point of changing my ears,” He motions to the slightly pointed ears.

“Well, he’s probably drawing off of something from his life.”

“Yeah, that’s probably true, that or he just felt like it.”

Joe nods and laughs quietly, “Well, that’s a good point.”


	20. Etho

Etho grins as his tails puff themselves up, they reflect his emotions and it's pretty entertaining to watch. Sometimes it’s more of a hindrance and the others can always tell how he’s feeling. 

Shaking the negative thoughts away Etho continues work on the monstrosity, his fox Side Kit following him around. Ever since his transformation, the small fox has been following him and occasionally helping him.

The others have been annoyed many times by the pair. Etho pranking someone before running off in fox form and Side Kit would stick around. The hermits chasing him around until the hermits realize that it’s not Etho.

Smiling faintly at the memories Etho yawns.

“Long day?” A voice asks from behind.

“Huh, oh, hey Joe,” Etho waves, “Yeah it’s taking a while to make this,” He gestures to the massive hole in the ground.

Joe grins, “I’d bet, this is amazing.”

Etho gickers softly, “Thanks.”

“Not a problem, uh, do you need some help? Your tails are all dirty.”

“Yeah, I have to brush all the big clumps out.”

Smiling softly Joe grabs his ender chest and pulls out some dog brushes, “Come over here and we can get started.” 

Under his mask Etho frowns, his tails tucking close to his body. He’s really thankful for Joe offering to help but, it’s still a bit off-putting. People touching his tail always makes him feel weird.

“Etho? If you don’t want me to do this I can leave,” Joe explains and Etho sits down.

“It’s not that, I do want your help. It just still feels weird when anyone else is touching them. Not in a bad way but, different.”

Joe nods in understanding as Etho gently pushes a brush back into his hand. They sit in silence for a few minutes.

“Is it bad that I sometimes regret coming back?”

“No, when we discussed inviting you back we never considered that the meteor would follow us to the new world.”

“You guys wouldn’t have hurt us willingly,” Etho murmurs.

Joe sighs, “I’m so sorry that we put you into this position. We should have made a test world before moving on.”

“Don’t blame yourself, you didn’t know. You gave us a fair warning. You didn’t really get into detail about what happened but we knew that you had been changed.”

Briefly pulling Etho into a hug Joe smiles sadly, “Thank you.”

Etho flicks his tails back, “You know, all this floof on my tail. It’s a blessing and a curse.”

“How so?” Joe smirks as he continues brushing the dirt out from Etho’s tails.

“Well, they’re fun to prank people with, and they’re pretty warm, but they’re a pain to clean and I keep tripping over them,” Etho rolls his eyes as he finishes talking.

Laughing Joe shakes his head, “That sounds like quite the conflict.”

“Oh, it is and I’ve gotten tangled in them a few times. I honestly don’t know how I completely missed the fact that my ears changed.”

Joe stifles a laugh as the tail he’s working on flicks him.

“I don’t know how I missed that. It’s got a very different texture, they’re really soft.”

Etho sighs as Joe looks up, “What’s bugging you?”

“I can’t always control what form I’m in… I just randomly poof into the Fox form.”

“You want more control of your form?” Joe asks and at his tentative nod he continues, “More control will come with time, you haven’t been affected for a month yet. Give it a bit of time.”

“Yeah, I just want to be normal again. Jumping at Redstone ticks when they startle me isn’t much fun.”

Joe shakes his head, “I’m sorry we didn’t warn you well enough.”

“No. It’s not your fault you didn’t know that he would follow you all the way here. And what’s happened is over, it can’t be changed. No matter what we do this is life and we just have to keep pushing through the hard things.”


	21. Xbcrafted

Xb yelps in surprise as he splashes down into one of the ponds of the shopping district. It’s been a few weeks since his transformation and he’s still trying to get a hang of his legs bending more than what he's used to. 

As he sits waist-deep in the water he frowns, now he’s soaking wet. Grumbling under his breath he lets his spines deflate. Standing up he stumbles out of the water.

Walking towards the nether portal he stops, it would be a good way to dry off, but would going in the nether hurt him…

“Howdy,” Joe grins as he passes by, “Is something bugging you?”

“Uh, yeah… uh, I don’t know if I can go into the nether,” Xb murmurs.

“Hmm, well the nether is pretty humid. I’ll go with you.”

“Thanks, man.”

Joe grins as they step into the portal, Xb puffs up once he’s through but looks fine. As he slowly deflates he grins.

“It feels pretty normal,” He says with a sigh of relief.

Joe’s face falls a little, “How have you been doing?”

“I-I don’t know, everyone’s been treating me like glass. I know it’s because my transformation was a bit worse than most, but I want to be able to process things.”

“Do you want me to listen to you?” Joe asks as he pulls Xb into his portal.

Xb nods, “Yeah, everything is so confusing. Every time I get startled or scared I puff up. It doesn’t feel good.”

As Xb talks, Joe brings him inside and gets some cookies. 

“Puffing up is really uncomfortable and I almost hurt Biffa.”

“Oh, what happened?” Joe asks softly.

“I had tripped over stuff and he helped me up. I got startled and puffed up.”

Joe winces and rubs a small scar on his arm where one of Xisuma’s spines had stabbed him.

“When I change my size it’s so disorienting, it’s really obvious when I change but still, it throws me off.”

Calmly Joe nods.

“And it’s sorta fun to swim around, but I can’t really be with other people, since I’m literally over twice their size,” Xb says, swinging his legs gently. He’d developed a bit of a habit once he had legs again.

“When you swim, can you do it in this form?”

Xb thinks for a moment, “It’s weird, it feels wrong somehow… like when you know you're moving in a way that you probably shouldn’t.”

“I think I understand,” Joe smiles sadly. 

Softly puffing his cheeks out Xb frowns softly, “The whole hydration thing is really annoying too. I get that I need more water now.”

By this point Xb has started to rant and vent, Joe nods along and gives input when it’s needed.

“I’m always cold,” Xb admits, “I don’t know what to do, I can’t wear gloves or a jacket. Cloaks are fun to wear but they’re really drafty… I just don’t know what to do. You guys have made most of the shops warmer and stuff but I can’t get anything done.”

Joe carefully brings Xb into a hug, “We’ll figure something out, you’ve got your normal jacket on. You just have the sleeves rolled up… what does it feel like when your fins get flattened?”

“It feels a little like a pinch, it’s hard to describe.” 

Humming softly Joe nods, “I’ll see if I can do something.”

“Thanks, man, you know what’s pretty weird. Doc whenever I catch a fish. He gets all happy, and it’s nice and all, but I don’t want to eat the fish raw. He’s so proud of me and that’s nice, but I’m just not used to all this I guess,” he pauses before whimpering ”I just want to go back to normal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next, up is Joe talking with Avar. It'll take a few more days to write and post as it is finals week. So expect an update on Friday.


	22. Joe Hills

Taking a deep breath, Joe calmly walks down to the room the meteors being held in. Of course, he’s terrified but he needs to know... Shoes clinking softly against the floor Joe spots it. The large but unassuming Meteor. It's a large gray stone with many different wires and sensors attached.

Stopping in front of the rock Joe looks up, “Why, why are you doing this?”

The screen monitoring the meteor suddenly lights up and words appear, “Why am I doing this? I want you all to feel what I felt.”

Taking a small step back Joe gasps, “What happened?”

Aver is shocked, “After what I've done to your friends, you ask me this?”

“Well, you clearly need to talk to someone,” As he speaks the ground starts to look a bit fuzzy. The metal is replaced with smooth stone and intricate tiles. 

“Welcome to my prison,” A man shrouded in shadows says softly. 

Joe gasps, “You’re Avar?”

“I am, please sit.”

Cautiously Joe complies, “This doesn't look much like a prison…”

“After being stuck for millennia it is,” Aver steps forwards, piercing blue eyes boring right through Joe.

“Oh, what happened?”

Avars face darkens, “The Vex lied to me. I asked them for help to save them… they tricked me.”

Solemnly Joe nods, still looking carefully at the clearly broken man harboring all kinds of resentment sitting in front of him.

“In the end, I saved my village, but I lost my humanity.”

Joe steels himself as he asks the next question, “So why target us?”

“Simple, the two most powerful servants of the vex live with you, and the Vex must perish.”

“Ok then…” Joe gasps softly.

Avar frowns, “I've had three visitors in all my time here, the vex servant, Asmodeus, and now you, Joe Hill.”

“I have two questions, who is Asmodeus? And how did you know my name?”

Laughing softly, Aver answers, “Asmodeus, is the dragon familiar you call Max and you should know by now, I can read minds when I'm infecting people.”

“That is terrifying. Would you consider not hurting anyone else?”

High pitched shrieking laughter fills the air, “No, the vex must feel my pain… you're all so happy, you don't know how I felt. You weren’t chased out of your home, you didn't almost kill your best friend…” Aver drops to the ground, “I ran. I couldn’t face them.”

Joe softly kneels next to Avar, he helps the shorter man to his feet, “I can't deny that you did horrible things, but you could stop, you could make things right.“

“It's far too late for that, you forget I need to do this for what they did to me.”

“You don't have to do anything… The Vex have fallen from power they can barely manifest without the evokers. When they aren't in the mansions they need a consistent source of energy.”

“I think you misunderstand, the Vex must be destroyed.”

“Ah, don't you think that's a bit extreme,” Joe tries to reason.

Avar stands up and glowers imposingly over Joe, “They took everything from me.”

Joe slowly backs up, getting out of range off the pure magic washing off of Avar, “Ok, ok, uh could you possibly give some of the hermits a less intense transformation. Like Beef can’t really move and Xb can't wear a jacket since it hurts his arm fins.” 

“No, absolutely not. I like that you came to talk to me, but I can't just let you make things harder for me,” Avar grins, “Now leave.”

“But-” Joe stumbles away from the meteor, landing flat on his bottom. He’s back in the real world. Pain fills his mouth as Doc runs up to him.

When the meteor had gone active Doc ran over to the room to see what sort of particles the meteor was letting off. Opening the doors washed a cool dark mist over him. It made it almost impossible to see the figure standing next to the meteor.

Doc runs over to Joe just in time to see him fall to the ground. When he looks up there's a small drop of blood dripping down his chin.

“Doc?” Joe slurs, shivering as the mist swirls around him protectively. “What's happening?”

“I think you’re being affected,” Doc gently explains as he carefully helps Joe to his feet, “What were you doing in here anyway?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s all folks let me know what you thought. 
> 
> What’s happening to Joe? Any one have an idea?

**Author's Note:**

> This one has a different set up than normal, it covers all of the hermits in 500ish words.
> 
> Let me know what you think. :)


End file.
